Why spotting tricky thinking matters
Children meet persuasion everywhere: in adverts, games, online posts and playground arguments. Learning to spot common reasoning tricks, such as “everyone says so”, slippery slopes and personal attacks, helps them think for themselves.
Older students also discover that their own minds play tricks, through habits such as favouring evidence that fits what they already believe, and they practise ways of thinking more fairly.
Free activities to download
Ready-to-run EduTrend Contents philosophy enquiry workshops for primary, middle and high school. Each free download includes a step-by-step session plan, facilitator notes, three student worksheets and an assessment checklist. Full 20-week programmes are available in EduStore.
Everyone Says So!
Primary · Ages 5–7
Foundation · 30 min
Young children hear a silly story where everyone agrees the moon is made of cheese and enquire into whether lots of people agreeing makes something true.
The Slippery Slope
Primary · Ages 8–11
Developing · 45 min
Pupils test chains of “and then... and then...” predictions and enquire into when one thing really leads to another.
Fallacy Detectives
Middle School · Ages 11–13
Intermediate · 50 min
Students learn four common fallacies and match them to invented everyday arguments, then enquire into why fallacies are persuasive.
Tricks in Posts and Adverts
Middle School · Ages 12–14
Intermediate · 50 min
Students analyse invented social media posts and adverts for fallacies and emotional tricks, then rewrite them honestly.
Biases in Our Own Thinking
High School · Ages 15–18
Advanced · 60 min
Students test themselves with short tasks that reveal common thinking biases and enquire into how to reason more fairly.
Liked the free activities? Go further with a 20-week programme.
Each free activity comes from a full EduTrend Contents programme: a Family Guide or Teacher's Guide with one-page session plans for 20 weeks, plus an Assessment Toolkit with rubrics, trackers and certificates. Choose the one for your child's age or your class below. Instant PDF download after checkout.
P4C-261 · 20 WEEKS · $29
Spot the Trick at Home
Family · Ages 5–11 with a grown-up
Spotting reasoning tricks at home.
P4C-262 · 20 WEEKS · $39
Tricky Thinking Detectives Classroom
Primary · Ages 5–11
Class enquiries on tricky arguments.
P4C-263 · 20 WEEKS · $39
Fallacies and Bias Lab
Middle school · Ages 11–14
Fallacies, media tricks and bias.
P4C-264 · 20 WEEKS · $45
Critical Reasoning Enquiry Leaders
High school · Ages 14–18
Lead critical reasoning enquiries for children.
Photos: Debby Hudson, AMONWAT DUMKRUT, Vitaly Gariev, Lesli Whitecotton, Akson / Unsplash
Fallacies and Tricky Thinking
Learn to spot tricky thinking with five free printable philosophy activities, from “everyone says so” and the slippery slope to fallacy detectives, tricks in posts and adverts, and biases in our own thinking. For longer learning, choose a 20-week programme for families, primary, middle or high school.
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Fallacies and Tricky Thinking
